Blooming
by Gilsaragrissom
Summary: Grissom and Sara's long distance relationship between paris and LV. Current. GSR
1. Chapter 1

Finding his eyes within the crowd of people, locking her own to his, melted away the fatigue and exhaustion that came with the double shift and long flight.

He made his way towards her, and didn't hesitate before enfolding her in his arms, taking in her sent, nuzzling his nose into her soft hair. She could feel him exhale against her.

"God how I've missed you." she breathed.

"It's only been a week" he teased as he pulled back to look into her face, then gently kissed her lips, "but I know." He took her bag from her and escorted her out of the airport.

They arrived back to their loft apartment on the outskirts of paris a little while later. Upon entering she was overwhelmed by a barking hank who trotted toward her, though, she was equally happy to see him.

As she paid attention to hank, Grissom made his way to the kitchen.

A moment later he felt her come up behind him, pressing her body to his own, sliding her hands around his waist.

"I made you some pasta, I figured you'd be hungry..."

"mmm, that looks delicious, thank you-" She spoke as slid her hands from his waist, up his back, and to his shoulders where she began to massage him.

"Whens the last time you ate dear?" he asked as he turned around to face her,

she shrugged, "on the plane?"

"Peanuts and crackers don't count."

She placed her palms flat down against his chest and moved them upward so her fingers laced together behind his neck.

"You should eat."

"Yes mother." she teased and he looked at her with that 'I'm-serious-sara-' look that he often times gave her when it came to her health and physical/mental well being.

"Im hungry for something a little different at the moment." She spoke as she traced her fingers down his chest to his waste, moving them around to to his back and then slowly slipping them beneath his jeans. She pulled him flesh against her and kissed him deeply until a small moan escaped him.

As much as he tried to seem as if he was above men who had no self control when it came to sex, he wasn't. He gave in at the slightest touch and she knew it. She turned off the stove and took him to the bedroom.

They both realized they seemed a little rushed in the beginning, stripping down and making their way to the bed. Its just that it felt like it had been so long, and it had been. And they were desperately wanting. He laid her down on the bed, hovering over her, as he swept a locke of hair from her face. He kissed her neck, her collar bone, trailing down further and further, he could hear her breath becoming more rapid with anticipation, her chest heaving. His hands held either side of her hips, creating pressure. And the trail of kisses started moving back up.

"Gil.... you are suchhhaa teasee" she breathed breathlessly as he looked up at her with his boyish innocent grin. His breath on her skin made her squirm beneath him, closing her eyes and opening her mouth in pleasure.

her hands entangled his scalp as he went down on her, arching her back with pleasure. Her body shook as he intensified until she couldn't take it any longer.

"god, gil. please." she begged as her eyes felt as though they were rolling backward.

He made his way back up to her and she could feel the weight of his arousal on her thigh before he finally entered her. As he did a small gasp escaped from deep within her throat. She always did that, and that small noise did something to him that he couldn't even fathom describing. They moved in unison, grasping onto each other tightly, desperately wanting.

When it was over, after they had both climaxed and he released, she couldn't let go of him. she wouldn't allow him to roll off. She kept him there, hovering over her, keeping him tightly in her grasp, and after a brief moment of perplexity, he understood.

He kissed her gently on the lips, on her neck and collar bone, then again on her lips. Over and over again, softly. Until he was finally able to roll off to the side with her still grasping onto him. She nuzzled her head deep with his shoulder.

"I've missed you so much sara," he whispered into her ear as he ran his hand through her soft hair.

She nodded against him before responding softly, "you have no idea."

"Stay Sara. . . I don't know if I can take being apart from you again."

"I cant gil. . ." She sighed, "they need someone- but besides that- I think i need this. Im better now, stronger- and I need to make up for all the time that i was so weak there."

"Maybe I should come back with you." He was hesitant in his speech, she could hear it in his voice.

"Gil, you don't want to go back to vegas, i know that-"

"I want to be near you more then I don't want to go back to vegas."

"I know its rough. But this is only temporary. Just until they can find three more people for night to take our places. They lost so many people in such a short time- its taking them some time to recover."

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, " Its only for a little longer, and then we can be like this, everyday."

"And you're doing okay down there? No... no- bad memories resurfacing, your dealing with everything alright?"

She wasn't sure whether he meant her childhood or that night out in the desert,

"You trust me?"

"You know I do."

"Then trust that I am truly fine." she traced a finger over his jaw.

"I worry, I know you hate when I do- but I cant help how I feel.... and- and i worry about how you're dealing with everything there alone."


	2. Chapter 2

"Gil?"

"hmmmm?" he moaned as he rolled over and held her as he continued to sleep.

"Gil, look at the time- dont you need to get to your lecture?"

"mmmm mmm"

"Gil..." she gently shook him, he finally opened one eye to her.

"I canceled it dear."

"what, why?"

"because... id rather sleep in with my beautiful wife, despite her waking me up." he flashed her one of his famous grissom grins. He scooped her up in his arms and began to kiss her neck thoroughly.

she began to laugh, "gil! what has gotten into you??"

He didn't answer, just continued, and they had a repeat of the previous night.

----

Later in the morning the two could be found sharing a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast at the kitchen table, each dressed in their respective robes. Hank dutifully at Sara's feet.

"What time is your flight tomorrow?"

"Actually i moved it to sunday, have an extra day with you."

"But that means you'll be going straight to work from the airport. Sara, thats ridiculous, such a long flight, you'll be exhausted."

"Ill sleep on the plane. Besides- I wouldn't rest easily there knowing I forwent an extra day with you"

She could see the defeat in his eyes. Knowing he could not win.

They spent the day walking in the park with hank, roaming the streets of paris, sharing each others company. The weekend came and went far too quickly. Before they knew it they were in the airport once more, sharing an embrace again, though this one a bit more somber.

----

Her flight was long and quite tiresome. A crying baby sitting across the aisle did not aid her campaign for sleep. Though if she were to be honest with herself, she wouldn't have been able to sleep much anyway, never could on flights. She knew it even when telling Grissom otherwise, and the look in his eyes let her know that he knew it too.

She looked over to the infant, small hands wrapped around a fathers index finger. She had read once that babies scream in order to un-pop their ears, as a natural habit. So the crying would surely seize soon. And so it had mere minutes later. Still she looked at the child.

"Sorry about the fuss. First flight with her." The father said apologetically to Sara, noticing her starring at his child. His voice snapped her out from her daze. He looked to be in his mid forties, grey hair shuffled lightly into thick brown, 5 O'clock shadow beard, tan and thin.

"oh no, it fine." she smiled at the infant, "She's adorable."

"Thank you," he smiled down at his child, then looked back towards Sara, "Just 5 months old. But she's growing so fast it scares me." after a short pause, in way of explanation, "my first." he smiled proudly.

She nodded and turned her attention back to her book.

"Do you have children?"

She turned her direction back to man, "No, no I don't."

He nodded, as if in understanding some unspoken reason. "I didn't think I'd be any good, didn't think I was the type, oh but Julia proved me wrong." he thumbed over the child's hair.

She offered a smile in return, not sure what else to say.

"You should. I've never felt more alive then I do when looking into her eyes. Its this feeling that everyone tries to explain but no one understands until they experience it for themselves."

"You two traveling to or from home?"

"To. We were visiting my in-laws in Paris. How about yourself?"

she laughed on the inside at this. She lived in Veges now, temporarily she supposed. But her home was where ever Gil was, which currently was in Paris, But veges had been her home for over 8 years.

"From." she finally decided. "I lived in Veges for years, but home is in Paris now."

"Beautiful place it is. I would love to live there someday."

They finally landed hours later, and parted ways. Greg stood at baggage claim waiting for her with a smile.

"Hey Greggo," she said as she walked over to him, baggage in hand. "Thanks again for picking me up."

He took her bag for her despite her polite protest and lead her to the car where they drove straight to the lab.

A quick shower, change of clothes, and she was ready to go. She would be naive to think that Veges would give her a day of rest. The minute she got there calls were piling up. Each CSI having to work solo due to build up of cases and lack of personal. She was called out to a remote town two hours away from the strip. The roads were dark and obsolete making the trip having her feel a little on edge. Upon her arrival a cadet met her at the car, explaining the situation. Father and son fond stabbed, photo evidence of a mother and two daughters in the house but bodies were no where to be found.

TBC- it may be a few days so i wanted to get this out sooner rather than later,


	3. Chapter 3

The house was dark, cold, an eerie silence lain over. She walked through the house, carefully stepping to avoid pools of blood. She went room by room, carefully collecting evidence. She began in the kitchen where the back door to the house trailed blood from.

7 long hours later she was finished processing the inside of the house, having fibers, bloody shoe prints, a few partial fingerprints, and several theories as to what had transpired inside the household before her arrival. All that was left to do was the perimeter, which she speculated wouldn't too long. She began at the back door where the trail of blood led from. The house has an average size backyard that was bordered by vast, dark woods, which is precisely where the blood drops were leading to. She followed the trail with her flashlight, eyes leading into the dark woods. She turned back to look at the cadet who guarded the house and then back at the woods as she made her decision and let her feet follow the path.

Part of a ripped shirt hung from an unruly branch, she collected it and continued to follow the trail. After a few minutes of following the trail she turned back to look at the house, which was now mostly obscured by trees, and was fairly far away. Still she continued to follow it, but at the sound of rustling in the bushes she unholstered her gun. She began to walk towards the bush, she approached it slowly, bracing herself as she pulled back the branches ready to fire.

Pulling back the branched unveiled a young girl. Mouth, hands and feet taped up. Squirming, crying, fearful.

"Shhh, Shhh, its okay. its over now. Im with the police."

Sara re-holstered her gun quickly, and knelt down to the young girl. The girl flinched as Sara touched her arm, trying to sooth her. The girl stayed fearful, shaking her head profusely, trying to yell something despite the tape over her mouth. Sara carefully removed the tape despite the constant jerking movement of the victim.

As soon as the tape was removed the girl began to freak out.

"hurry! no!"

"Shhh, Its alright." Sara tried to calm her down,

"No! He's-"

Just as Sara tried to make sense of the victims babbling she heard the crunch of branches behind her. Spinning her head she spotted the man as he began to dart off.

Split between staying with the victim and going after the perpetrated she quickly drew her gun and began to chase after him. The ground moved quickly beneath her feet as she radioed the cadet for back up. She began to close the gap between them, coming closer to him.

He looked over his shoulder to see how close she was behind him and when he did, she saw his face quite clearly in the moonlight.

And just as suddenly as the whole thing began, she felt herself loose the ground as it fell out from under her, launching her down a hill, tumbling threw bushes and branches, cutting and scraping at her pail skin. And as she landed hard with a thud to the ground, before the world grew dark and black, she saw him look back once more at her before he darted off further into the woods.

her eyes opened slowly but quickly closed as the harsh bright light flooded into her unexpected irises.

"Sara?"

She tried opening her eyes again, and with a bit of effort finally was able to focus on the face of the woman saying her name repeatedly.

"Catherine?.... where am I?"

"Sara. Oh thank god you're okay. How do you feel?"

"What is going on here? where am i?" she began to panic as she tried sit up but was restricted by an intense pain.

"Sara, you're at desert palms... you were injured at the crime scene... "

The memory started to come back to her, what had happened. Chasing the man.. and the victim- finding the victim."

"Where is she? Is she alright?"

"She's fine. Her name is Sam Wright, she was one of the daughters that were missing from he house. She's just a bit shook up but she'll be fine."

"And did you catch him!?" she questioned eagerly.

"No." Catherine answered honestly. "You should rest. Don't worry about the case, Greg's on it."

"No, im fine really. I don't need to be here." As she tried to get up the pain hit her again. shooting up her spine, splintering her head. She yelped in pain.

"Stay laying. you shouldn't move, sara"

"What happened to me?" She tried to look over her body to see what kind of condition she was in.

"You dislocated your left shoulder. They popped it back in and its fine now, but it'll be sore for a while. and you pretty bruised and scraped up. They think your shoulder dislocated because of your previous injury to it... you know- in the desert." Catherine stopped there, knowing Sara knew exactly what previous injury she meant. "I called Gil," she said a bit apprehensively.

"Why? No, you shouldn't have done that Catherine."

"He's your emergency contact, i had to. Anyway- why wouldn't you want him to know?"

"Oh Catherine, I really wish you hadn't called him. Im not actually injured."

"What's going on with you Sara?"

"What did you say to him? You didn't make it sound that bad right?"

"I told him exactly what happened, Sara why are you so worried, its just Gil."

"Because now he is going to worry about me even more. He's not coming down here is he?"

"He didn't say anything to be about it. I spoke to him about 12 hours ago, when you first got here."

"I've been out for 12 hours!? ... what did he say?"

"He didn't say much, he was worried- but i assured him you were fine."

Sara sighed and pushed her head back further into the pillow. "When can I go home?"

"Doctor wants to keep you overnight, make sure you didn't sustain any head injuries."

"Um, Im just going to check myself out then- Im fine, I don't need to say here."

"Sara, the doctor strongly suggested you stay here for observation."

Just then a nurse walked in and changed her IV bag, looked over Sara's chart, made a few notes and looked at Sara with a soft smile,

"How are we feeling?"

"I'm fine- my arms just a bit sore."

"I'll get you some pain meds for that, ... anything else? Headache? Nausea? restlessness?"

"None"

"Alright, thats good." She took a flashlight and shined it in each of Sara's eyes, nodding as she did so. "Dr. Hastings will be with you shortly," And then promptly left.

Sara turned her attention back to Catherine, "Ill be fine here Cath, you dont have to stay- I know you have a lot of work to do."

"Oh no Im fine, I'm having Nick do my paperwork as we speak,"

"Why?"

"I want to stay with you.."

"Gil asked you to stay with me." she said knowingly, shaking her head.

"Maybe. But I would anyway."

Sara avoided looking straight at Catherine's eyes, embarrassed of having her 'babysit' her. Soon the doctor came in asking Sara a few questions about her condition, and other relevant topics.

"History of blood disorders in your family?"

"none"

"mental illness"

she hesitated, "no."

"heart conditions, blood pressure issues?"

"no and no."

"Do you have any allergies?"

"no."

"Pregnant?"

Sara was very much caught off guard by this question, which was odd considering it was a standard question, and it didn't go unnoticed by Catherine.

"No."

"Alrighty, well your arm should stop being sore in about a week or two, the bruise and cuts will heal in time, nothing seems to be infected, and your eyes are responsive. Everything looks well but I would like to keep you overnight for observation, You hit your head pretty badly and I would like to make sure that you didn't sustain any brain injuries that just aren't fully visible yet."

"Thank you, but i think ill just check myself out."

"I cant force you to stay but I strongly advise you stay here. I think it would be a mistake you go home alone right now."

Catherine interrupted, "Can she think about it for a little while?"

"Absolutely," Dr. Hastings replied, "Ill be in to check on you in a little while." The doctor exited Sara's room.

"I should call Gil," she thought out loud quietly, "Cath.. could i borrow your phone?" she shyly asked, still avoiding eye contact. Catherine handed her the phone, already having his number dialed.

"Straight to voicemail." she said as she handed the phone back to catherine and then looked up at the clock, "oh he's probably at his lecture."

"Let me go get you something to eat, you must be starving." Just as Sara was about to politely protest Catherine was already gone.

Catherine went down to the cafeteria on the 2nd floor, taking the elevator from the 6th floor where sara was, and got some vegetable soup and crackers and then promptly made her way back upstairs. She pressed the elevator button and patiently waited until one came up from the ground level. And when the elevator doors opened, she saw him standing there.

"GIL!?" He looked up shocked and then saw her,

"Cath!" he smiled tiredly. She walked into the elevator and he hugged her as the doors closed. Once their embrace ended he looked at her worried, "how is she?"

"Gil, i told you over the phone that she was absolutely fine. Nothing threatening what-so-ever."

"I mean mentally." he admitted, and she saw the worry etched in his face.

"Mentally? ... Gil, she seems absolutely fine to me, working with her and everything, she's been better then ive ever seen her, healthy, happy."

"Thats really great to hear." he said truly but the worry was still on his face, "but i mean being in the hospital now, not how she's been doing before."

The elevator reached its destination and 'binged' to let its occupants become aware of such. They continued their conversation in the waiting room, not wanting Sara to hear it.

"She doesn't like hospitals." He admitted to her, "She becomes very... agitated when omitted in one," Catherine was confused, it showed, "she uh... her childhood wasn't exactly a happy one..." he said in way of an explanation of sorts. Saying as much as he could without having to spell it out.

"Well, she is trying to check herself out early despite the the doctors strong objection." then a pause, "Come ill show you which room she's in."

Catherine led him to her room, pointed from a door away and then left him to enter alone, wanting to give them privacy. She handed him the soup to bring to her.

He slowly opened the door, and saw her laying there, body limp and pail, in pain. Her eyes avoiding the door.

"Hey..." he spoke softly as he entered, and watched as her eyes shot up,

"Gil..." she breathed. He set the food aside on a counter and sat in the chair catherine had once occupied next to her bed. He scooped her hand up in his and kissed her lips softly. Then brushed her hair back with his hand.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright... You really didn't have to come all this way Gil, its ridiculous, just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing to worry about."

He squeezed her hand gently, "Sara...." he tilted his head and looked deep into her eyes in that way he does when he's concerned. "Let me go sign the paperwork and check you out, okay?"

She could see the fear in his eyes, the fear that this incident would make her break, make her go back to her mental break down, take her away from him again, maker her deteriorate, fall from his grasp, and she saw it in his eyes, that if it were to happen, his heart wouldn't be able to recuperate like it did last time.

As he stood to leave she tightened her grasp on his hand, bringing him back down to her and she kissed him deeply, intensely, making sure he understood that she was alright. And then he disappeared down the hallway to speak with the doctors. The doctors gave him instructions on when to look out for as far as brain injuries went and how to tend to the sore shoulder. Soon enough she was released and he was walking beside her as a nurse wheeled her out of the hospital in a wheel chair, as per hospital policy.

Catherine had returned to the lab a little while ago and had dropped off Sara's car in the lot for them to drive home. Gil helped her into the car and began to drive home.

tbc soon.


	4. Chapter 4

(i am describing the loft as it was shown in season 9 after sara left.)

Walking through the front door to their loft was a strange experience for Grissom. The last time he and Sara had stood in this space at the same time was the night before she left Vegas for the second time... after Waricks murder. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind.

Sara walked down the steps to the kitchen and turned to him.

"come," she softly commanded. He obeyed, not sure of what she was doing but soon understood as she had him follow her to the bathroom where she turned on the shower water to hot and began to strip. He did the same.

As she washed off the grimy feeling of the hospital, he did the same of the airplane. Letting the hot water sting his skin, and suds roll off his spine. As she finished washing off the last of the body wash he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, resting his chin on her head and allowing the water to freely fall over them. He sighed as he continued to hold her.

She let him hold her for a little while but finally looked up at at him and turned the water off.

"Gil... don't let this incident worry you please. I really am fine."

"I know you're fine... I'm not."

She looked up at him with perplexed eyes, he elaborated for her as he handed her a towel and took one himself, "I don't know how much longer I can do this Sara... I'm not going to ask you to leave Vegas. That would not be fair of me, and I know that this is something you need, and want to do." he took a long pause and he finished drying off, "The semester is over in two weeks. I think I'm going to suspend teaching for now, and come back here for a while, be with you."

"Wait, Gil-"

"Don't tell me not to please. I've thought this through rather thoroughly. I can go back to Paris and teach whenever I want. I have an open-ended invitation there."

"What will you do here? Are you considering going back to the lab?" Her confusion still rang clear.

"No, no. Actually I was contacted by a textbook company, they asked me to write the revisions of their forensic textbook for the new edition."

They were now both dressed for sleep and pulling back the sheets of their king sized bed. Sara stayed quite as they slipped beneath the covers, allowing him to continue.

"I think I'll take it. It'll probably keep me occupied for a few months. And hopefully by the time I'm done the lab will have gotten back on their feet and that research grant we're waiting for will be approved."

She moved closer to him, Contouring her body to his so that their bodies looked as one beneath the sheets. She traced her fingers along his bare chest.

"You're amazing, you know." She spoke through a sigh.

He kissed the top of her head but did not acknowledge her statement, "Hows your shoulder feeling?"

"A bit sore" she admitted, "But ill live."

Soon enough they both drifted into a pleasant slumber only to be awaken hours later by neither ringing phones nor alarms, but rather softly by the sun peaking through the windows.

The ability to rise from sleep without a set obligation of the day was a rare occasion the both relished and started it off by just continuing to lay silently in each others arms.


	5. Chapter 5

And as quickly as he had come, he was gone. She walked through the lab with eyes upon her. Memories of that first day she walked through the lab after her abduction flashed through her mind but she suppressed the memories as best she could.

Upon entering the break room she was greeted by an eager nick and an even more eager greg.

"Sara!" greg exclaimed as he stood up and moved towards her, looking her over for evidence of injury before hugging her. "I picked up some soup for you, but Catherine gave me strict orders not to visit you and wouldn't say why. I started thinking the worst!"

Sara smiled shyly, thinking about how Catherine respected the intimate time herself and gil needed, considering they rarely saw each other anymore.

Nick had made his way to her and hugged her as well. "So! What was with the top secret no visitation law from Cath!" he questioned with full curiosity.

"Well I had no idea about that... honestly you were more then welcome to visit, though i was only out for four days guys."

"Then why would she say that?"

Langston stood from his seat and smiled at Sara, patting her on the shoulder, "Glad to have you back Sara." before politely exiting from the break room.

"I don't know... Oh, well... Gil stopped by..." She had promised herself that she would let the two of them into her life more openly now that she was back. She knew all the secrecy had hurt the both of them, and she wanted to make it up to them. She just wished that she didn't feel so awkward being so open about her personal life.

"Grissom's here!" Greg cried out.

"Was, he's flight left a few hours ago."

"He was in vegas..." nicks jaw dropped, dumbfounded, "and he didn't even bother to say hello?" the hurt was evident in his voice.

"Stopped by?" Greg interrupted, " Gil stopped by! You say is so nonchalantly! Like he lives the town over or something and not in PARIS!" Greg's hurt was seeping through his angry tone.

"He wanted to. I told him not to..."

They didn't respond, just stared at her, awaiting an explanation that would make them forgive her for such an awful thing.

"He's coming back in two weeks, for good." and there it was, she was forgiven. "...well at least as long as I am working here. But he'll be around plenty, and he misses you guys just as much as you miss him, never think otherwise."

Catherine walked in waving pink slips in her hand.

"Sara- Greg, DB in the pool at the Tangieres. Nick, solo out in Henderson, apparent suicide, if so and you finish up early, go lend greg and sara a hand. Ray's waiting for me in the car, we have a double in an ally off the strip. Everyone good?" They all nodded, "Good, Great to have you back sara, hope you had a... restful weekend." she said as she winked at her and left the break-room.

Nick raised her eyebrow at Sara knowingly and Sara's checks turned a shade of red before she finally pushed greg out the door and made their way to their DB.

"He's really coming back!"

She looked over to her friend as she drove and saw the excited puppy dog face he had on. And realized she had given him the wrong impression, and felt her stomach turn into knots as she contemplated her next words.

"Oh greg..." she trailed off as she came to a red light. "I didn't mean to give you the wrong idea... he's not coming back to the lab..."

And just like that the light flickered out of his eyes. And she felt her heart ache for him, but then, just as suddenly it was back and the smile returned.

"But he'll be in Vegas? With us.. i mean you..." He smiled as his mess up. He'll be around, not hiding in a shell right?"

"Absolutely. He wants to see you guys and catch up. Trust me." she smiled back at him, "and even if he starts becoming hobbit like again... ill just force him out of the house. There's absolutely no way you're not going to be seeing a lot of him. " She reassured him.

She found it adorable how attached Greg was to Gil.

She found herself crouching over the pool, her reflection stared back at her, and Greg's appeared next to hers, she looked over to him.

"How would you like to proceed?"

"Lets get this bad boy outa here. He's no use to us just floating there."

She smiled and nodded, then waved her hand to let the corner know he was up.

Greg and Sara continued to process the scene for a few hours, which lead them to the roof, where they believe he was pushed off of and into the pool, which he then cracked his head on the bottom there of.

Hours later they were hunched over the illuminated table in the layout room when Sara's phone began to vibrate. She smiled at the caller idea and as she picked up she walked out of the room, but Greg heard as she spoke, "Bonjour" in a cheerful upbeat, sweet voice.

"Ahh, Bonsoir Madame. Comment allez-vous?"

"I'm Fine." She smiled, and though he couldn't see it, he could hear it in his voice, " how are you? I see your plane landed a bit early."

"Only a bit. I'm in the Taxi now. Have to pick up Hank from my colleague's. You at work?"

"mmmhmm. I mentioned your return to Nick and Greg."

"Oh? You mean my previous one, or my future one?"

"Both."

"I see."

"They miss you terribly you know."

"I miss you terribly."

"Gilbert. You just saw me."

"Can't help how a feel." He said in his boyish innocent way. It made her long for him.

"As much as I would love to continue this convorsation, I really must be getting back to work. I really hate to."

"Oh stop your lies. You love the work." He teased.

"I do... and something else too." she breathed.

"Oh? I would love to know the target of this affection."

"Goodnight Gilbert."

He smiled as he closed his eyes. "Two weeks dear."

"I'm looking forward to it."

They said their goodbyes and she hung up, making her way back to the layout room where she found Greg in the same place as she left him. He lifted his head to her entrance and looked up at her quizzically... knowingly.

She smiled, "He says hello."

TBC.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: i feel awful that i neglected this story for so long, so there will most like be multiple posts a day to make up for it. enjoy.

Now about a week later Sara was on a case with Catherine who she had just informed of Grissom's homecoming.

"Greg and Nick know!"

Sara nodded.

"You must be thrilled!"

"I am." she answered honestly, "We've made it work, this whole him in Paris, me here, but I'm getting pretty sick of it." She earned a wide grin from Catherine for presenting an honest open statement on her personal life.

"Sara... You feeling alright?"

She furrowed her brows, "Yes... Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, Its just that... you've been pressing your two fingers into you abdomen all day."

Sara looked down at her stomach and saw what Catherine described. She quickly dropped her hand to her side. "Hu... yeah I don't know, I've just been getting these weird cramps all day. Its nothing I'm sure."

Catherine shrugged and they got back to work, she would bring up Grissom every now and then between case related discussions. It was clear that she was just as eager as Greg and Nick.

By the end of the day Sara was exhausted. She sat on the bench in front of her locker and laid her head in her hands for a moment. Just letting her eyes rest.

"Sara?" _So much for resting her eyes for a moment..._

She lifted her head to meet Greg's concerned gaze.

"You okay?"

Sara looked puzzled, "Yes, I'm just tired. Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Greg took a step backward as she snapped at him, realizing what she did she quickly corrected herself,

"I'm sorry Greggo. I didn't mean to snap at you." she took a deep breath, "I'm just really exhausted."

He walked over to her and sat beside her, "Yeah, well, you look it."

"Gee, thanks."

She paused a moment as a wave of nausea and deeper exhaustion swept over her. "Greg." Her voice become almost inaudibly soft, "you think you could uh, give me a lift home? I don't think im in any shape to drive."

"Absolutely, C'mon" Greg started to become deeply concerned at her request. The Sara he knew would never admit she felt sick unless she was unable to stand. And she certainly wouldn't ask for a ride just because she was a bit tired. No, this was something else. And he started panic.

When they arrived at her loft Greg got out to help her out.

"Greg, you don't have to do this, I'm fine really." She politely protested, but he wasn't letting up. He walked her inside her home and sat her down on the couch.

"Are you sure you're alright Sar?"

She looked up at him and faked her best smile, "Truly. Thanks for the lift."

"No problem. Call me, please, if anything is up?"

He left her apartment and drove straight back to the lab, wasting no time as he B-lined to Catherine's office where she sat finishing up the last of her paper work.

"Catherine." Greg's serious tone was extremely rare and made Catherine look up instantaneously.

"Greg, what is it? what's wrong?"

"Sara-"

She stood up promptly, "Whats happened!"

"No, no she'd fine... for now."

Calming down a bit she sat back down and probed him to continue.

"I just drove her home once she finished shift, as per her request."

Catherine furrowed her brows.

"I know. Its extremely out of character for her to admit that she needs help of any kind at all. She said she was in no shape to drive, that she was so exhausted. And she looked it. But she didn't even work a double, and I'm really worried about her."

Catherine nodded, agreeing with everything he spoke.

"She held her stomach all day today, claimed she's been having cramps..." she said a bit absent mindedly.

"We should call Grissom."

"No, not yet at least. Im going to go over there now. " She opened one of her desk drawers and produced a key, and by way of explanation, "incase she doesn't answer... Grissom gave it to me to move the things from his office there after he left."

Greg nodded, "Call me as soon as you figure something out. Im really worried Cath."

Catherine agreed and they parted, she headed straight for Gil and Sara's loft.

She knocked twice before deciding to let herself in. Upon opening the door she heard a chocking sound coming from down the hallway. Catherine rushed to the source of the noise, speaking "Sara" loudly as as she did.

She made her way through the master bedroom and into the private bath that was connected to it. She stood in the doorway and saw as Sara's body jerked while she got sick in the toilet.

"Sara!" She rushed to her side and pulled her hair back as she got sick again. Once she tied Sara's hair back she retrieved a wash cloth and made a cold compress and placed it on the back of Sara's neck.

The waves of nausea seemed to finally pass and Sara slumped down against the cold bathroom wall and closed her eyes.

"Sara..." her eyes flickered open,

"Thank you Cath... what are you doing here?"

"Checking on you. Greg was extremely worried, now I see why."

"Im fine, really. Probably just a stomach virus or something."

"Or something..." Catherine stated her disbelief. "I'm Calling Gil."

"Catherine." Sara scolded. "There is no reason to worry him for nothing. He'll be here in two weeks and he was just here a few days ago. He'll get on the next flight out anyway and you know that."

Catherine sighed in defeat. "Alright. But I don't know what to do with you."

"You don't need to do anything. I'll be fine, this will pass."

"Maybe you should see a doctor."

"I'm not going to run to the doctor for every runny nose I get. You guys are being very paranoid."

"Alright well, if you wont go to the doctor then tell me all of your symptoms and when they started. And don't leave anything out. If you do, I'll know and I'll take you straight to the doctor. " she threatened with all seriousness and Sara knew it.

"Okay..." Sara spoke softly in defeat as she moved the cold compress from her neck to her forehead and held it there. "I've been more tired then usual since... I'm not sure, maybe four or five days ago. And as of two or three days ago I've been having these strange cramps, and today I got really nauseous."

Catherine nodded, "Anything else?"

"Not unless you count me suddenly contemplating giving up being a vegetarian, a symptom." She laughed but then stopped when she saw Catherine's eyes widen. "What? your considering that a symptom? I was kidding!"

"Why are you thinking about eating meat!"

"Uhhh, I dunno. I saw Nick eating a turkey club sandwich the other day and I found myself craving turkey. And I haven't touched meat since Gil and I did that experiment with the dead pig in the tightly wrapped blanket."

Catherine started to get the ridiculously goofy grin and it was making Sara very uneasy.

"What!" Sara demanded.

Catherine just continued to smile as her eyes showed signs that her mind was wondering off.

"Catherine!"

"I've diagnosed you."

"Ha. Very funny doctor Catherine. So, What do I have?"

"I'm not really sure how you're going to take this..."

Sara's facial features twisted into perplexed as she watched as Catherine took one of Sara's hands and inclosed it within both of her own.

"You're Pregnant Sara."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Sara laughed profusely at the preposterous thought. She was laughing so hard that she could barely breathe, that is until she caught sight of Catherine again who was still wearing that goofy grin from ear to ear.

Her laughter began to die down and then stopped. Her voice became serious, "oh my god, you're serious!"

Catherine just nodded in response.

"Thats absolutely ridiculous Catherine. It's impossible."

"Is it?" Catherine questioned snidely.

"Yes." She was confident in her response.

"Well these symptoms wouldn't be present yet if you conceived when he was here this past weekend..." she spoke out loud but mostly to herself,

"We didn't."

Catherine snapped her head in Sara's direction, "What? You mean to tell me you two are barely ever in the same town, and when you finally are you weren't intimate!"

The color rose back to her face as her checks turned the color of tomatoes, "Umm, yeahh, no. He was..." she let out an uncomfortable small laugh, "He was afraid to hurt me, you know with me just coming out of the hospital and all..."

"Wow." She said in disbelief, but she shook her head of the thoughts to get back on track, "Anyway." she continued her previous train of thought, "Okay, and you arrived in Paris last..."

"Maybe three weeks ago?"

Catherine smiled and nodded, "And a presume you _were _intimate then, yes?"

She blushed deeper, "Yes." her voice was small.

"The timeline fits for you symptoms Sara."

Sara shook her head, "Catherine, there are an infinite number of other sicknesses with the same symptoms. I am not pregnant. We're... We are careful..."

"Yeah, So were me and Eddie." Catherine stood up from the bathroom floor and extended her hand to Sara, lifting her to her feet, and led her to the edge of the king sized bed in the attached room. Sara sat.

"I'm going to run to the store and then I'll be right back. Try and get some rest in the meantime."

"If you're going to buy what I think you are, it'll be a waste of money."

"Well then it will be _my_ waste of money." she smirked, "Ill be back shortly."

And with that Catherine disappeared.

Sara stood, she brushed her teeth to rid herself of the sick taste and redressed into more comfortable clothing. She couldn't rest now, what if Catherine was right?

She decided to put up a pot of tea for when Catherine returned. And just as the kettle whistled, Catherine walked through the door.

"Impeccable timing." She spoke from the kitchen, "I made some tea."

"Oh great!" Catherine made her way to the kitchen and placed the pharmacy bag on the counter, "You go do this, I'll finish up here."

"Catherine..."

"Indulge me. Please."

Sara gave in and took the bag to the bathroom. She sat there for a few minutes just staring at the thing. She hadn't had a pregnancy scare in over ten years, it was odd to think of her younger counterpart doing the same actions, only this time her feelings about the outcome are much more mixed and complex then when she were younger and all she wanted to see was that blue negative line.

She finally willed herself to open the packaging and take the test out of the box. She followed the instructions on the back verbatim, and once all was done the real suffering began, the waiting.

It felt like the longest five and a half minutes of her life. Her mind took wild turns during the painful wait. She imagined her and Gil raising a child together and it had filled her with joy, but she couldn't manage to shake the feeling of her family history, and her long term view of why would anyone want to bring a child into such a world.

The timer sounded, relieving her of her thoughts, as she tentatively made her self pick up the test.

Catherine's head perked when she heard Sara reenter the kitchen. Her facial expression unreadable.

"So..."

"Is this one mine?" She asked sitting at the island and wrapping her hands around a large ceramic mug before taking a sip of the hot liquid.

Catherine just stared at her, trying to decipher her thoughts, but it was impossible, she would just have to wait for her to finally spill.

She placed the mug back on the counter.

"How could you have known?" She spoke shyly, softly,

Catherine shrieked. "This is incredible!"

"Unbelievable." She said ambivalently.

"So... good news or bad news?"

Sara shrugged her shoulders in response. "I should call Gil."

She stood to retrieve the phone.

"Oh no you don't!" Catherine intercepted the phone, "Are you kidding me! You do not disclose this type of information over a phone call. let alone a long distance one!"

"Oh..."

Catherine shook her head, "You two do deserve each other! You're both clueless." She sat back down, Sara eventually followed her. "You have to do it creatively, like unveiling some huge surprise."

"I don't know Cath..."

Another week had past, and she was expecting Grissom's arrival any minute. She had made a doctors appointment a few days prior, to confirm or disprove the home pregnancy test. The doctor had come back with a smile, she knew it was true before he even spoke.

And now- now she just waited at baggage claim, getting more jittery as the moments passed. And finally she spotted him on the escalator, he had spotted her too, because he began to grin. He walked his way over to her and engulfer her in a hug, his arms completely enclosed around her as he held her tightly.

"You know, two weeks is a rather large measurement of time."

"We've spent longer apart" she mused.

They walked to the carousel to pick up his luggage.

"Yes, we have. But this somehow felt different. I cant quite place my finger on it."

They obtained his luggage, and hank from the special carrier system. Poor hank was whimpering when he was finally back with his owners. Then they made their way to the car and she drove them back to their loft.

Hank trotted in ahead of them, running from room to room, enjoying the familiarity.

Grissom looked down at his watch, "Don't you have to leave for work soon?"

"Oh, no. Catherine gave me the day off."

He raised his eyebrow in inquiry. She responded, "She made me." and he smiled knowingly.

"You must be hungry?" She ventured but he shook his head.

"I think hank is though."

He prepared Hank's food and fed him. All the while Sara stared at him. He looked up at her from his knelt position on the floor, being able to have felt her gaze upon him.

"Yes dear?"

She was tentative, hesitant, "I- I have a gift for you." She smiled weakly, and he noticed all this.

"Oh?" he stood and wiped off his hands.

She nodded and retrieved a small wrapped rectangular box, then placed it on the island and pushed it in his direction. He looked quizzically at it, then at her, before finally carefully pealing back the paper, finding a plain brown cardboard box, which he opened.

She bit her lip as he did so, nervously.

He looked up at her confused, "I don't understand,"

She walked around to the other side of the island to stand beside him and she leaned against him as she pointed to the pink line displayed across the viewing screen.

"That line, the pink one, it means its positive..." her voice trailed off.

He looked deep into her eyes, still showing confusion.

"Its a pregnancy test Gil..."

He looked back at the piece of plastic he held in his hands, and then at her again, not speaking a word.

He saw something creep into her eyes, it saw fear.

Slowly he put the piece of plastic down on the counter and turned to her, cautiously putting both his hands, palm down, over her abdomen, resting there lightly. Finally his lips began to move, but his voice was so soft, she almost had to strain to hear his words, "A baby?"

She nodded. He repeated his words again, "A baby?" this time in a normal speaking range. She softly nodded again. A quick laugh escaped him, out of disbelief,

"How?"

She didn't answer his question, she knew he didn't need one.

"You're serious." She nodded again. He began to rub circles with his thumbs over her stomach. And then placed his hands on either side of her face before kissing her deeply, passionately.

"You're not joking." she shook her head, "holy crap." he ran his hand over his face and through his hair.

"I guess you have good timing on coming home." She smiled up at him.

"uh-hu." there was silence for a while as they just stood there until he finally spoke again, "what do you think of this?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, on the one hand I can never imagine myself raising a child, let a lone being pregnant, and then i think about a child, with your eyes and smile, and us teaching him or her about the world, and I get, I don't know, I guess emotional."

He smiled at her admission. But his smile was short lived when she spoke her next thoughts, "And then I think about my family." he watched as her eyes darkened, "And how I promised myself when I was little, that i would never bring a child into such a world."

His hand went to her face as he thumbed away a tear, cupping her face in his hand as he spoke, "Sara, we can create a different world for this child, he or she will never, _never_ have to go through what you endured as a child. And you are not like your mother Sara, I know you're thinking of that, and its not true. You'll make an amazing mother. I know it."

"How do you know?" she whispered.

"You'll have to trust me." was his simple response.

TBC


End file.
